Starting the engagement process to design the Canada Disability Benefit Regulations

GATINEAU, QC, July 24, 2023 /CNW/ - The ground-breaking Canada Disability Benefit Act received Royal Assent on Thursday, June 22, 2023. In the spirit of "Nothing Without Us" and as required by the Act, collaboration with and feedback from persons with disabilities will be essential in the development of the Canada Disability Benefit Regulations.

Today, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough, announced the timeline and details of the engagement process for the Canada Disability Benefit Regulations.

There will be two phases of engagement. During the regulatory design phase, there will be a series of engagement opportunities to inform the design details and implementation of the new benefit, as well as the drafting of the Regulations. These include:

• August 2023: An information session will be held with disability stakeholders to establish a common understanding of the regulatory process.
  
  
• September 2023-ongoing: Technical roundtables and bilateral meetings will be held to bring together the views of experts, stakeholders, and persons with disabilities on key areas under the regulations.
  
  
• Fall 2023-Winter 2023: There will be an online survey and portal for open submissions to gather input from all Canadians.

The second, more formal, phase will begin with the publishing of proposed Regulations in Part I of the Canada Gazette. Canadians will be able to review and provide comments on the proposed Regulations. The Government will then analyze the comments received and may make changes to the Regulations in response to the feedback received before finalizing them. The final Regulations will then be published in Part II of the Canada Gazette, at which time they will become official.

In parallel to the regulatory process, there will be engagement and discussions with provincial and territorial governments, who are critical partners in developing the Canada Disability Benefit. The focus of this work will be on optimizing benefit interaction to ensure persons with disabilities have more money in their pockets at the end of each month. 

"Collaboration with persons with disabilities, stakeholders, and the provinces and territories is critical to the creation of the CDB. We will work together to create a benefit that reduces poverty and supports the financial security of working-age persons with disabilities.''
? Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough

• Budget 2023 committed $21.5 million in the 2023 to 2024 fiscal year to continue work on the future delivery of the proposed benefit, including engagement with the disability community and provinces and territories on the regulatory process.
• According to the most recent Canadian Survey on Disability (2017), nearly 917,000 working-age Canadians with disabilities (23%) live in poverty. Persons with severe disabilities (28%) and very severe disabilities (34%) are particularly vulnerable and experience a high rate of poverty.
• The same survey found that Canadians with disabilities?including women, men, 2SLGBTQI+ people, racialized people and Indigenous people?are more likely to be financially insecure than other Canadians.
• 25% of Canadians with disabilities spend more than 30% of their total income on shelter costs.
• 59% of Canadians with disabilities aged 25 to 64 have gainful employment, compared to 80% of Canadians without disabilities.
• Canadians with disabilities aged 25 to 64 have lower after-tax incomes than Canadians without disabilities (12% less for Canadians with milder disabilities and 51% less for Canadians with more severe disabilities).
• Building on a series of consultations and engagement activities related to the new benefit which took place in 2021 and 2022, this new round of engagement activities will focus on the development of regulations under the Canada Disability Benefit Act and aspects of the administration of the new benefit. Previous engagement activities included the following:
• In the summer of 2021: there were four roundtables and an online survey to engage Canadians on the Disability Inclusion Action Plan and the proposed Canada Disability Benefit.
• In the winter of 2022: there were four roundtables specific to the Canada Disability Benefit. Participants at these roundtables included disability researchers and academics, organizations that work with racialized communities, national disability organizations, and service providers.
• In the summer of 2022: bilateral meetings took place with the private insurance sector.
• For a summary of the Canada Disability Benefit Act, visit Summary of Bill C-22: The Canada Disability Benefit Act.

Associated Links

• Landmark Canada Disability Benefit legislation receives royal assent
  
  
• Canada's Disability Inclusion Action Plan
  
  
• Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion mandate letter

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SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada